After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 337: Grand and Vast Skies

Chapter 337: Chapter 337: Grand and Vast Skies

After Xu Qingmei, it was finally a judge named Chen Chong (he finally had a name) who stepped forward.

He did not follow the sequence of Xu Qingmei’s critique, but went in reverse order.

Only until the end did he stand before Jiang Lingxi’s work, seriously appreciate it for a moment, and prepared to give his critique, subconsciously glanced in the direction of Xu Qingmei.

What he was about to say might seriously offend this big star.

After retracting his gaze, he steadied himself, "This ’Mountain and River Map’, in my opinion, can be categorized as excellent..."

Everyone present was listening attentively to his critique, but couldn’t help casting their eyes towards Xu Qingmei who had just negated the ’Mountain and River Map’.

Surrounded by a myriad of gazes from all sides, Xu Qingmei maintained a calm smile, seemingly unconcerned with anyone giving a completely different evaluation.

But what she thought in her heart was only known to her.

Then, the third judge, Lin Qin (another judge finally named), also gave the ’Mountain and River Map’ an excellent rating.

Xu Qingmei, once again the focus of many eyes: "..."

Her fingernails had already dug into her palm, her heart was speeding up, and a bit of frustration was starting to spread from within!

She could confirm that these two judges had no special friendship with Jiang Lingxi, yet they paid no mind to her face, giving Jiang Lingxi an excellent rating. Thus, there was only one explanation, one she couldn’t admit no matter what!

When Shen Yunqing picked up the microphone, everyone’s eyes finally shifted away from Xu Qingmei.

But she didn’t have a chance to catch her breath, when she heard a judgment that plunged her into an abyss.

Shen Yunqing directly walked up to the ’Mountain and River Map’ and gave the comment he had wanted to speak before: "Grand and unrestrained, elegant and free in ink."

The comment compared to the previous three could not be more succinct, but the people present could easily discern that although only eight characters, it was a fairly high appraisal.

Especially the immense admiration and appreciation for the ’Mountain and River Map’ in his words, was almost unmasked.

"Can I say this is my first time capturing the emotions of this Mr. Shen? I always thought this immortal had no intense emotions whatsoever."

"He seems to genuinely like this piece, just as I too really like the ’Mountain and River Map’. Haha, going by this, my aesthetics align with Mr. Shen’s!"

"Is there anyone whose opinion doesn’t align? No one should think Jiang Lingxi’s painting is bad, right? Well, except for Actress Xu."

"By the way, I just noticed Actress Xu looked a bit unstable, even wobbled a bit there."

"Either you were seeing things, or Actress Xu is starting to panic, three people have already disagreed with her, and it’s likely to continue with Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang later."

Xu Qingmei couldn’t help but waver, especially knowing that there was an audience at the scene, judges wouldn’t just sit all the time, she just wore a beautiful pair of towering heels, this moment of wavering coupled with those heels meant she couldn’t maintain her balance at the moment.

Luckily, her response was swift, and she didn’t directly fall, only silently praying those few seconds of awkwardness weren’t captured by the audience or cameras.

After steadying herself, her gaze uncontrollably followed the figure moving toward another artwork, as she thought her previous remarks on stage would have somewhat affected the person. But reality proved that her words never even grazed their heart.

None of what she considered acceptable.

Shen Yunqing halted before Su Yi’s ’Rainy Night Silhouette’, reaching up to brush his shoulder as if to remove something vile and dirty, and then began critiquing the painting, "Light and lively strokes, delicate and emotional."

Su Yi’s tense expression immediately relaxed, because regarding this painting’s inspiration, while other guests might place more importance on Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang’s comments, she valued this Mr. Shen’s critique more.

Jiang Lingxi didn’t know what Su Yi had painted earlier, although she could turn her head from time to time during the drawing process to look at the big screen, she preferred to focus and finish her own painting before checking others.

When the finished piece was finally presented to everyone, she immediately recognized that the two silhouettes in Su Yi’s piece were of Shen Yunqing and herself.

Even though it wasn’t based on a rainy night amidst the bustling chaos of yesterday, it resembled more the rain in her dream last night.

Between heaven and earth, even amidst stormy surroundings, she would never walk alone.

Once the recording was over, she intended to ask Su Yi if she was willing to sell the painting to her.

Just like Shen Yunqing’s comment earlier, the delicate emotions, she really liked it!

Shen Huchen nervously waited and waited until finally, his cousin stood in front of his work.

Seeing his cousin lift the microphone, he couldn’t help but grab Lu Sen’s arm beside him, subconsciously using a bit of force.

"Ouch, what are you doing?"

"Sorry, just a bit nervous."

"It hasn’t reached Mr. Li and the old man’s comments yet!"

"This is even more nerve-wracking now!"

Since this not only critiques the guest artist’s work, it also checks the student’s learning results!

Lu Sen: "..."

This abrupt move even made him start to feel preemptively anxious!

Fortunately, Shen Yunqing was satisfied enough with his cheap disciple’s learning results, the same eight-character critique, allowing Shen Huchen to breathe a sigh of relief and release Lu Sen’s arm.

"Thank heaven, passed!"

Lu Sen: "..." Anyone uninformed might think it’s Shen’s art entrance exam!

After completing critiques on Qian Yaya, Lin Nuo, and Lu Sen’s pieces, Shen Yunqing finally stood before Jing Huai’s work.

Perhaps because during creation he stood behind Jing Huai for a few seconds, successfully causing the other’s condition to waver, the work he faced now was just barely viewable in part, while another part was completely unseeable, making a critique challenging.

"This piece..."

Having grown accustomed to the standard eight-character critique, everyone’s ears perked up hearing just three characters this time.

Then came the sound of Mr. Shen’s voice, disdain subtly colored his tone: "I have no comment!"

He really couldn’t critique such a bad painting, there’s no point forcing himself!

Everyone: "..."

Jing Huai, specially treated: "..."

He didn’t have Xu Qingmei’s skill at controlling his expressions; at this moment, facing the unusual glances cast his way, his face turned slightly green.

Luckily half of his face was still mask-covered, he could barely conceal a bit.

The host opened his mouth, intending to suggest at least a minimal evaluation, even four characters would do, but upon seeing Mr. Shen decisively placing the microphone down, he swallowed his words back.

Forget it, that’ll do; besides, there were still two more heavyweight judges to come.

If it weren’t for respecting the program’s inherent rules, Li Wanxuan would have rebutted long ago when Xu Qingmei critiqued Jiang Lingxi’s work.

Now that it was finally her turn to critique, Mr. Li could no longer hold back, grabbing the microphone to speak freely: "I disagree with Ms. Xu’s previous critique of the ’Mountain and River Map’. I confess, I couldn’t paint this within two hours, nor depict the momentum in this painting. If even the ’Mountain and River Map’ lacks merit, then there might not be any artwork in this world you consider outstanding..."

Everyone: "..."

The audience first listened in shock, followed by joy.

"The straightforward old lady is too adorable!"

"She spoke for me; I’ve been wanting to rebut Actress Xu like that."

"What old lady, show some respect, call her Professor Li, she’s the mainstay of our Calligraphy and Painting Association!"

"It’s my first time seeing Actress Xu publicly reprimanded on the show, having to obediently stand corrected; this ticket was totally worth it!"

"Too bad there’re no phones for recording, who knows if this part will be cut from the broadcast since it impacts Actress Xu’s image too much."

"But she shouldn’t have deliberately demeaned Jiang Lingxi’s work before; digging her own grave. This is a national station show; they probably won’t indulge her to cut as she pleases!"

"Why worry now, just wait for the broadcast to know. But I advocate not cutting it, haha, so everyone can witness Actress Xu’s face-changing skills!"

Jing Huai adjusted his mask, watching Xu Qingmei’s face uncontrollably turn ugly at being scolded publicly, feeling a bit satisfied within.

No one’s a masochist, he tolerated Xu Qingmei’s temper behind the scenes because he had needs.

Now that Xu Qingmei intends to distance herself, she’ll treat him like a stranger henceforth, offering no more career help.

Seeing Xu Qingmei embarrassed in public was indeed gratifying.

However, this delight didn’t last long as Li Wanxuan’s next words soon followed: "In my opinion, the critique Actress Xu gave fits Jing Huai’s ’Waterfall’ more!"

Jing Huai: "..."

Did he just catch a stray bullet?

The audience burst into laughter.

"Let me express Jing Huai’s current inner OS: What did I do to deserve this?"

"Though Mr. Li’s remarks were a bit rude, comparing them, indeed, Jing Huai’s ’Waterfall’, isolated, was alright, now stands out poorly."

"Today’s big mystery: With this painting skill, how was Jing Huai selected for the show? Could there really be some inside story?"